1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to sensors, and more particularly to a nanopore sensor and methods for detecting interaction between carbon nanotubes and proteins.
2. Description of the Related Art
Accompanied with fast-paced developments and applications of carbon-based nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs), growing concerns of bio-safety of these nanomaterials to a human body have led to strategic research into nanotoxicity. It has been found experimentally that a CNT can pass a cell membrane and subsequently enter the cytoplasm and nucleus, causing cell mortality. A carbon nanotube (CNT) can be toxic to a living cell by binding to proteins and then impairing their functionalities; however, an efficient screening method that examines binding capability of a CNT to protein molecules in vitro is still unavailable. At a molecular level, the nanotoxicity can result from strong interactions between a CNT and a protein molecule, such as an insertion of a CNT into the ligand-binding site of a protein molecule. Consequently, a malfunction of the affected protein molecule occurs in cell metabolism.
On the other hand, the interaction between CNT and proteins could be beneficial. For example, CNT-based drug molecules can be used to competitively interact with proteins of a virus, preventing the virus from attacking cells of human, animals or plants.